There’s just something cool about that unique numeric combination.  No matter that it comes up once every hundred years, you can’t tell me today wasn’t something special.

And for those of you (like myself) who insist on absolute accuracy when it comes to beginning your millenniums, well then, today was quite the day indeed.  It may not have had the odometeric satisfaction of rolling over four digits, but our friend math tells us that today was the true dawn of the third millennium.

For a couple of years, I wrote this column on a weekly basis (okay, a year and a half), and I miss that.  The very name “Intermittent Transmissions” was picked to avoid a weekly deadline, but this being a time of resolutions, well, let’s just say I would expect to see a bit more regularity in the appearance of new columns.

I also used to type out my resolutions in this space, figuring if I shared them with the Internet world, I’d be more likely to keep them.  I’m not going to do that this year, not because I don’t have any, but because I want to see how they go first.  Maybe that’s cheating, but too bad.  Suffice to say, they are mostly of the personal and professional improvement type (although, come to think of it, that covers just about 99% of all resolutions).

One thing I will share:  I have been thinking a lot recently about time.  01-01-01 is as good a time as any to contemplate the very nature of existence and the reason we’re all here.  It’s been said (and pardon this butchered paraphrasing) that time is nature’s way of keeping everything from happening at once.  When I look back, fondly, at the 20th Century, I have to say I’m glad it did happen.  I was very lucky to be there for it.  I’m really happy to have made it to the 21st Century.  And I found myself profoundly sad that it’s most likely, statistically, that I won’t be around for the 22nd.

But then, who knows?  Maybe the next time 01-01-01 rolls around, living to the age of 133 won’t be such a big deal!

And, as an added bonus, that week, January 1, 2100, will see the publication of my 5,201st weekly column.  Look for it!

Oh, and one other thing.  Sorry about blowing the “Survivor” prediction.  Rich ... I still can’t get over it ...

Link:

http://www.time.gov/